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| SJ coachwhip closeup. Photo courtesy of Laura Pavliscak |
Last week, our Stewardship Manager, Laura was driving around
the Old Headquarters area of Tejon Ranch when she saw something in the road. A
snake? In February? Yes indeed! Excited, she and her companion jumped out of
their vehicle and began taking pictures. It’s a good thing they did, because as
it turns out, this was a significant observation for Tejon Ranch. Not only does
it represent a new part of the property for this species, it’s also a particularly
early sighting. What kind of snake, you might be asking? Well, it’s the San
Joaquin coachwhip (Coluber flagellum ruddockii),
of course!
As the
scientific name suggests, the San Joaquin coachwhip is a subspecies of coachwhip
(Coluber flagellum). Currently, there
are four recognized subspecies of this snake in the U.S. and two of them occur
on Tejon Ranch. In addition to the San Joaquin coachwhip, the determined herper
(one who studies reptiles and amphibians) may find Coluber flagellum piceus, or the red racer. Adults of latter can be
distinguished in the field by its dark coloration behind the head. These two
subspecies also overlap along the coast in Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
One
thing that makes the San Joaquin coachwhip of particular interest to us at the
Conservancy is its native range. Robert C. Stebbins’ Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians (3rd ed.)
indicates that the majority of its range is in the San Joaquin Valley and into
the Coast Ranges to the west and extends along the south coast. Throughout its
range, urbanization and industrial-scale farming have contributed to decreasing
suitable habitat. Here at Tejon, we have a significant amount of grassland,
desert-like, and chaparral habitat that these creatures love.
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| San Joaquin coachwhip in arid grassland habitat. Photo courtesy of Laura Pavliscak |
In
addition to being listed as a California species of special concern, this is a
particularly beautiful serpent. A sharp eye will immediately identify its
slender profile, striking scales, and delecate coloring that is uniform
throughout the body (though juveniles can be more banded). Apparently, the
braided pattern of the scales and fine taper of its tail make it look like a
whip employed by horsemen. Its narrow head has a large yellow eye. While
beautiful, the San Joaquin coachwhip is also notorious for being aggressive, so
don’t get too close a look! This behavior comes in handy as this snake hunts
all kinds of prey from ground mammals to birds to carrion. They will even eat
bats (www.californiaherps.com)!
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| Coachwhips can grow to be quite long! Photo courtesy of Laura Pavliscak |
To
learn more about this amazing California endemic (that is, it’s an organism that
occurs nowhere else in the world), check out these resources:
http://californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.f.ruddocki.html
http://esrp.csustan.edu/projects/lsm2/pdf/lsm098.pdf
References
Nafis, G. “Coluber flagellum ruddocki – San Joaquin
coachwhip." 26 February 2014.
< http://californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.f.ruddocki.html#description >
< http://californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.f.ruddocki.html#description >
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western
Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company,
2003.
